How the USDA is helping small farms. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Testifying before the House Agriculture Committee Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack listed several ways the USDA is helping small and mid-sized farms.
“Climate Amart Agriculture Commodity initiative helping smaller-sized producers get a value-added proposition. Having farmers qualify for ecosystem service markets and when they do the right conservation and there’s a conservation benefit and greenhouse gas reduction or carbon sequester, they’re getting paid for it. The use of the Renewable Energy for America Program to reduce their cost of electricity and maybe even producing excess electricity which could be combined with their neighbors to provide a transition for the rural electric cooperative, creating a new energy commodity,” he said. “Expanded access to processing local processing over 400 projects invested by USDA in the last three years. Focusing on local and regional food purchasing agreements and contracts with local producers, small producers, to be able to provide those fruits and vegetables for schools and for the food banks. Using our procurement dollars as well for that purpose. Reducing fertilizer costs with investing in in new fertilizer capacity in the U.S. So, there’s a broad array of strategies.”
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Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.